Banana-bunch hanger.



No. 725,458'. PATBNTED APR.14, 190s.

i M. P. LEVY. f BANANA BUNCH HANGER.

APPLICATION FILEDNOV. 21y 1902.

N0 MODEL.

. rralrj-Zeyy l l l taching the upright support to the base.

UNITED vSTATES' PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS F. LEVY, ou CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

y BANANA-Bu NCH HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 725,458, `@atea Aprilv'14, 1.903.

' `.lippIiaaonnedrrmmmzl,1902. serial 110.132.273. (roman.)

To all whom t may. concern:-

Be it known that I, MORRIS F. LEVY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago,4 county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invent`,ed a new and useful Banana-Bunch Hanger,

of which the following is a specication'in its best form now known tome, reference being hadfto the accompanying drawings.

v My invention relates tov a mechanism for supporting in'stores,markets, dro. ,bunches of bananas in such a way that they are neatly andfirmly held in the desired position, can be readily attached anddetached frornsuch position, and are convenient for the sale ofseparatebananas. v

The usual practice heretofore in hanging bananaebunches has been to tiea stringor cord around the stem and then pass the cord through anordinaryhook attachedl to a stationary support; but .this method isdisadvantageous in that a cord of sufficient strength is not always athand and that the bunch so hung to attaching mechanism isnot of a neatappearance and the bunch may swing and turn under the action ofwind-pressure, the

touch of the hand, for otherwise. Y

.My invention consists in providing a mechanism fordetachablysecuring`the stem of the banana-bunch in a neat and ornamentalway in substantially a rigid position;

It consistsy also inl-manyv details'l o f 'construction ofsuchmechanism, Whichwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimedas this specificationproceeds.` v

In the drawings, Figure '1` is al perspective view of mechanismuembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view of lthem'echanism forllocking the stem of the bunch' of Vbananas to the holder. Fig. 3 is adetail view taken on line 3 of Fig. 1, illustrating a method of at-` Inusing my invention I providethe base a, preferably of cast-ironor lsteelof such shape and dimensions as to makeit Irm and steady enough' tosupport abunch of bananas at a desired height without there being anydanger of the whole thingtipping over. Integral with this baseplate fa Iprovide a socket-casting b, braced by webs c. Through the center of thesocket -b andbase-plate ais bored a hole d, and through the side of thesocket b is a set-screw c. I now provide an upright member g, preferablyof Wroughtiron orsteel,havingits lower end h adapted to t inside thehole d, in` the socket-casting h andhaving on it a collar-fi adapted to`bear .n pon the top of saidsocket-casting b.` When these parts arearranged as shown in Fig. 3,

the set-screw-l e may be tightened and the whole locked in position.. y

The upright g should be of sufficient height so that when the'bunch of.bananas is suspended from it `in the VInannerto be herein afterdescribed the bunch will. hang a sufficient height from the floor, sothat individual bananas may be inspected and sold in 'the usual manner;Subject to'this'provision the upper portion of the upright g is bentover in the approximately horizontal portion lc and i then bent downwardin the 4substantially vertical portion l. The length of the horizontalportion lo should be slightly'greater than the radius `of an ordinarybunch of` bananas, so that when a bunch is suspended, as hereinafterdescribed, it will clear. the upright g withoutunnecessary waste ofspace between the bunchand the upright g`., The depend- 1 ing portion Zis made wedge-shaped, with its enlarged portion mat the-bottom, as shownin Figs. l and2. Over this wedged portion Z .is placed anannular'member,preferably a ring n, and in one side of the dependingpiece lis cut a slight recess @,as shown in Fig. 2, the same beingadapted to receive and fit around the stem ofl the bunch of bananas;

vOnthe side of the depending portion Z is provided a` hook p, on whichring n is adapted to rest, as shown in Fig. 2, when the same is not inuse, as hereinafter described. Manifestly the'low'erfendm might `be madeso large that the ring n'would netpass downl p `over it withoutdeparting from the'principle of my invention.

` In-theboperation of my invention I rst place the ring yn on the. hookp, as shown in Fig. 2. I then swing it up over the depend-` ingportionluntil it lreachesthetop of the portion Z or is even up on the horizontal4portion k. I now take the bnnchof bananas and hold it so that the upperend of the stem is in 'approximately the dotted-line ,position shown inFig. 1the side of stem r bearing in the recess o, heretofore described.I now move the ring gz down over the wedge-shaped IOO portion Z until itbears tightly against the stem r. I now release my hold upon the bunchof bananas, and as the bunch tends to fall it manifestly pulls the stemdownward. This action in i view of the Wedge shape of the portion Zsimply causes the ring n to bear more closely against the stem andsecure it.

tightly in approximately the position as shown in full lines in Fig. l.When noW the bananas have all been sold at retail or it is otherwisedesired to remove the stem, th-e simple lifting of the stem o causes thehold of the ring n to be loosened, and it may be either moved upward orheld stationary by hand in a horizontal position and the stem removedand the ring n dropped onto the hook p, as shown in'Fig. 2, Where themechanism is ready to be operated as just described for the suspensionof the second bunch of bananas.

The interior of the recess o and the interior of the ring n may beroughened, if desired, to afford a better grip upon the stem r; butthis, as the stem is usually soft and quite crushable and is alwayssomewhat irregular in cross-section, is not necessary usually for thesuccessful operation of my invention. Then it is desired to move theholder from one locality to another, to ship it by freight or express Ican by loosening the set-screw e remove the upright g from the base cand pack the whole in a convenient form for such shipment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and which Idesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a dependingWedge-shaped support larger Iat the bottom than at the top and anannular member slidably mounted on said depending Wedgeshaped support toclamp the stem of a bunch of bananas to the depending support in themanner heretofore described.

2. In mechanism ofthe class described, the combination of a dependingWedge-shaped support larger at the bottom than at the top having avertical depression therein adapted to receive the side of the stem ofthe bunch of bananas and an annular member slidably mounted on saidWedge-shaped support to clamp the stem of a bunch of bananas to thedepending support in the manner heretofore described.

3. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a dependingWedge shaped support larger at the bottom than at the top, an annularmember slidably mounted 011 said ldepending portion adapted to clamp thestem of a bunch of bananas to the depending support in the mannerheretofore described, and a hook attached to the depending portionadapted to support the annular member when not in use.

4. In mechanism of the class described, the

combination of a base, an upright support g detachably secured thereto,the upper portion MORRIS F. LEVY.

Witnesses:

DWIGHT B. CHEEVER, BLANCHE L. WEST.

